


Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

by blancanieve



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Shopping, Christmas fic, Established Relationship, Gen, Jim is accident prone, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:27:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blancanieve/pseuds/blancanieve
Summary: A Jim/Bones Christmas gift for my Finnegancat and my readers.Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to those who celebrate the season. May 2021 be happier, healthier, and saner than 2020.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Finnegancat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finnegancat/gifts).



> A Jim/Bones Christmas gift for my Finnegancat and my readers. 
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to those who celebrate the season. May 2021 be happier, healthier, and saner than 2020.

**Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas**

  
**Chapter 1**

**“Have yourself a merry little Christmas**   
**Let your heart be light**   
**From now on**   
**Our troubles will be out of sight.”**

**Hugh Martin and Ralph Bane**

Leonard leaned back in his chair and stretched his tired, cramped back muscles. He had been sleeping on and off for two days in the big chair keeping a close watch on Jim. He glanced at the bio bed monitors, and leaned over to brush Jim’s hair away from his forehead. The calm relaxed face told him the sedative was still doing its job, but the drugs would be clearing out of his system soon and he’d be waking up in an hour or so. That was the normal time frame for the medication, but of course with Jim’s weird metabolism, he might wake up at any minute.

Jim was fine now, he’d been fine for most of the day. Leonard knew that Med Bay medical technology could monitor Jim’s medical status without him spending long hours by his bedside, but he wanted to be the one monitoring his vitals. He wanted to touch Jim, hold his hand, take his pulse, touching him in the old-fashioned way, just to assure himself of the strong steady beat under his fingers.

Leonard huffed in resignation a few minutes later when he heard Jim’s breathing change. Christine came to stand beside the bio bed. “He’s starting to wake up, isn’t he?” She glanced at the wall chronometer. “An hour early.”

“Yeah. With his quirky metabolism I figured it might be sooner,” Leonard said softly, never taking his eyes off Jim’s face.

“He’s not going to be happy,” murmured Christine, moving back to her station. “I’m over there, boss,” she pointed to the medical intake terminal, “if you need me.”

Jim’s long lashes began to flutter as he began to wake up and he moaned softly. Leonard knew he was struggling to open his eyes; it was always hard to wake up from deep sedation, the strong meds making it difficult for the body to come back to full alertness.

“There you are, Jimmy, c’mon,” Bones murmured. “Open your eyes for me, sweetheart, you need to wake up. I really want to see those baby blues. You’re all right now, so you can wake up, darlin’.”

Leonard winced as his tight, tired muscles twinged when he leaned over Jim and stroked his forehead gently. He sighed softly, sadly. He sure wasn’t looking forward to telling the Captain why he was in the Med Bay. Once Jim was fully awake, he was going to be terribly disappointed...no, not just disappointed, devastated, completely devastated because while he was unconscious, he’d missed Christmas.

Jim had been looking forward to their annual Christmas Eve celebration for weeks. He’d been as excited as a child planning their annual intimate Christmas Eve dinner, meeting with Chef, making a big deal of hiding Bones’ gift, and then the additional fun of hosting the Captain’s party in their quarters for the command crew on Christmas Day evening. And now Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had come and gone, and even Boxing Day was almost over while Jim had been unconscious.

What was supposed to have been a few days of anticipation and excitement culminating in a shopping excursion on Starbase 9, had turned out to be anything but.

————-************—————

At the behest of Admiral Boyce, SFM, _Enterprise_ had made a routine run to Space Station 9 to pick up medical supplies. One of SFM’s many supply ships would then rendezvous with _Enterprise_ to pick up the medical cargo and deliver them where they were needed.

Jim was eager to do something other than work, the endless paperwork assigned to him inexorably piling up in spite of his and Janice’s best efforts, and he was deathly sick of it. Not having received any new mission orders from Admiral Jameson, he volunteered his ship to transport the medical supplies and SFM data packets to the rendezvous point.

Admiral Boyce, a good friend of Admiral Jameson, looked at Jim knowingly. He knew the long days of downtime had Jim and his crew chafing for some action. He also knew that it was close to Christmas, Jim’s favorite holiday. By now, most of Starfleet knew it was Jim’s favorite holiday. The Admiral smiled indulgently as he gave Jim his orders. “Make sure you and your crew get a few hours off ship while the medical supplies are loaded,” he ordered. “I hear Starbase 9 is a good place to do some serious shopping, Captain,” he added smiling, his eyes twinkling.

“Aye, Sir,” Jim grinned back. “It is and thank you.”

Their mission had been stress free, uneventful, and they docked without incident. There was a queue of ships at Starbase 9 ahead of them ready to load their own supplies, so Jim ordered that the crew could start their few hours of shore leave as soon as they docked. Spock would recall them back to the ship when the medical supplies were loaded and it was time to leave.

Through the large Bridge view window, Jim looked up at the docked ships hanging from their umbilicals. Not a one was as beautiful as his girl, but...knowing this, he could afford to be generous. “Some sweet little ships berthed up there, right, Sulu?”

Sulu turned in his chair and grinned. “Yes, Sir. Wouldn’t mind piloting some of them, but not one of them can hold a candle to our girl.” He patted his console affectionally and grinned at Chekov whose head was nodding decidedly in agreement.

Leonard, standing at his customary place at Jim’s shoulder, rolled his eyes. Honestly these three, and Scotty, were completely besotted with the _Enterprise_. True, she was a fine ship, a beautiful ship, their home out here in the dark, but that was no reason to get carried away like lovesick teenagers.

Uhura turned in her seat. “Captain, they’re ready for us.” 

“Mr. Chekov, we have our vector, plot us into the station; Mr.Sulu take us in, nice and slow. Mr. Spock, after we dock and all stations are secure, you may begin shore leave. Tell everyone to take a break, relax, shop if they want to, because,” and here Jim’s blue eyes lit up like a child’s, “it’s almost Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, for those of us who celebrate. I want them to enjoy the sights at the base mall, and chill at the space station bar; just say it with whatever word is the Vulcan equivalent of “chill”.”

“Captain, there is no Vulcan equivalent for the word chill, at least in the context to which you are referring. “Chill” in Vulcan is only applied to cold ambient temperatures and very occasionally to refreshing drinks.”

“Yes, yes, Spock, I figured as much, just get my meaning across to the crew however you want. They deserve a break and I want them to enjoy their few hours off. Bones and I plan to do just that.” He looked up at Bones and smiled beatifically at him. He and Bones were going to have a wonderful time Christmas shopping.

Before Bones had come into his life, Christmases for Jim had been sporadic at best, non existent at worse. Bones had frowned fiercely when Jim confessed that to him. It was then that Bones insisted they were going to celebrate Christmas together in their dorm room, because by gum, Jim was going to enjoy a real Christmas! 

Somewhere, somehow, he acquired a small tree, some decorations, and even magically produced some long red socks to hang at the foot of their beds. He also presented Jim with some home made cookies he’d baked in the dorm communal kitchen. That evening Bones airily announced to Jim that he’d ordered Christmas Eve dinner to be delivered at 8:00 pm and they should both dress up a little for the occasion. Jim had been, in turn, bemused, charmed, amused, and deeply touched by all the trouble Bones had gone through to make sure Jim had his first proper Christmas. And so their annual tradition started that year. Christmas Day might be celebrated with friends, family, or crew, but Christmas Eve belonged exclusively to them and them alone.

Back in their quarters, Jim was fairly vibrating with impatience to get on the base and get his last minute Christmas shopping done. The two men changed into comfortable civilian clothes and Jim grabbed his padd and Bones’ hand as they made their way to the transporter room. Jim had a list of gift possibilities for everyone he told Bones, because after today there would only be two days until Christmas and they had to make good use of their time on the base.

Jim’s shopping list was only for the Command crew, plus Christine and Geoff. Their home gifts had been bought and sent off long ago via transport ship; sent to Sam, Aurelian and the children, to Winona, to Eleonora and Joanna. To Admirals Jameson and Boyce, they’d sent two bottles of MACALLAN 12 year old scotch, because, they both agreed, they were fortunate to have those two good men as their Commanding Officers and not some armchair Admirals who commanded other ships. So yes, the home people were taken care of, but the ship’s people were not, so shop they must.

They disembarked and immediately headed for the shops in the third level mall area on the base. Although supply space stations were not as big as other stations, they still had plenty of traffic. Knowing it for the heavy ship traffic area that it was, vendors from many worlds brought their wares and opened high end shops on Space Station 9. The shopping area was always busy, and all three mall floors were packed with beings going up and down the antique escalators which were a novelty and attracted a lot of attention. They had been installed to amuse and transport everyone who stopped at the base, and Jim was charmed and delighted with them.

Business for the shop keepers was brisk and steady. Since ships stopped regularly at the supply base for one thing or another, there was no shortage of shoppers year round. Presently though, business was more brisk than usual, because Christmas was celebrated on most earth ships and their crews were eager to buy gifts for friends and family. Giving gifts at Christmas was a tradition that had never really waned for humans down through the centuries.

With Jim’s list in hand the two men went to the third floor promenade. They went from shop to shop looking for just the right gift. Jim found a beautiful amber silk shawl for Uhura, and Bones bought matching earrings for her. For Sulu, a new hand carved frame for the picture of Demora he kept on his console, and Bones bought another one to match for Ben’s picture. Chekov got two jars of genuine Russian caviar and the crackers to eat it with. Scotty got a selection of Scottish goodies, a box of genuine shortbread, a canned Haggis, and a small bottle of Buchanan’s Scottish whiskey. For Spock, who didn’t really celebrate, but who was more or less forced to participate because of the whole Bones’ fierce eyebrow and gimlet “it makes Jim happy” eye thing, they found some sheet music for his lyre. It was pricey, but they went in together to buy it for him. Geoffrey and Christine got white Aran sweaters to wear in the Med Bay, because Bones said they were always complaining of the cold. Thinking it over, and knowing the Med Bay was deliberately kept as the coldest part of the ship, and sheepishly admitting to Jim that he too was always cold, Bones also bought an Aran sweater for himself. Jim killed himself laughing telling Bones the three chief Medical Bay officers were once again in matching “uniforms.” Bones, dimples out in full force, agreed, but further added that he didn’t care and neither would Geoff and Christine. Comfort was all that mattered in the Med Bay.

At lunch time they had a quick snack at the food court and continued buying gifts. After they finished their shopping, “thanks to my awesome list, Bones,” Jim smirked, they decided to go to a nice restaurant on the third level for an early dinner. They looked the menu over carefully, because this dinner was an expensive treat that didn’t come often. After the delicious lamb cutlets and mashed potatoes for Jim, pork tenderloin and risotto for Bones, and a fine dessert accompanied with genuine freshly brewed coffee, they picked up their many packages and headed back down to the first level to get to the transporter station.

It was on the way down while on the third level escalator that the accident happened. Jim, arms full of packages, had turned his body to look up and grin happily at Bones who was on the step just above him, when some idiot young Ensign ran down the escalator and bumped heavily into Jim. His arms full of packages flailed, dropping all the packages, as his hands sought purchase on the moving hand rail, but Jim still lost his balance. Bones, frantically reaching out for him, missed. Jim and the packages went tumbling down the metal escalator his momentum carrying him down every stair in spite of the many hands that tried to stop his fall.

By the time the terrified Leonard had pushed through the crowded escalator down to Jim, he was on the mall floor, badly injured, deeply unconscious surrounded by horrified, concerned beings. Leonard called the ship for an emergency beam out and recalled Christine and Geoff to beam up to help him stabilize and treat Jim.

Once in the Med Bay the readouts were alarming. Jim had a crushed ankle, a broken collar bone, three broken ribs, a cracked wrist, a concussion, lacerations on his face from the metal escalator’s teeth, and a severe gash on his forehead that would need regenerating. None of the injuries were life threatening, but they were all very painful. Once he’d been thoroughly assessed, there had been so much to repair and heal that Leonard and Geoffrey agreed it would be best to keep Jim sedated while they worked on the different parts of his injured body. He had been sedated for almost three days, and now finally he was waking up.

Bones!” Jim rasped, his voice hardly recognizable even to himself. He felt a gentle, familiar hand pushing his hair back from his forehead.

“Hey, Jimmy, ‘m’here, darlin’.” Bones’ voice was soothing, and Jim tried to open his eyes to see him. He winced at the brightness of the lights and licked his lips, which were dry and chapped. His tongue felt like sandpaper and as soon as he swallowed, nausea came rushing in, sweeping him up.

“Lights 75 percent.” Bones’ gentle hand left him and Jim whimpered at the loss. He heard the hiss of a hypo at his neck. “This will help with the nausea, darlin’.”

The nausea receded immediately and Jim sighed in relief. “Wha’ ‘appended.” Jim mumbled, slowly becoming more alert.

“Some idiot was running down the escalator and pushed you. You lost your balance and went down those moving metal stairs, all three flights. You were pretty beat up, darlin’, but you’re well on the road to a complete recovery. The idiot was arrested for endangering others.”

Jim blinked rapidly, becoming more awake. He squinted, closing his eyes from the light, then opened them again. His blue eyes roamed around the area....Ah, he was in the Captain’s private Med Bay room. He shifted his body wanting desperately to get up off the hard bio bed mattress.

“No, no, Jim!” Face alarmed, Leonard pushed him back gently. “Don’t move. You’re in no condition to move much yet. Give it a little time. Let me raise the bio bed head so you’ll be more comfortable.”

Jim waited patiently until Bones got him more upright. He licked at his dry lips and Bones brought a glass of water with a straw to his lips. The cool water was a balm to his dry raspy throat.

“Bones....” Jim cleared his throat as he remembered their Christmas shopping excursion. “All our gifts! Are they okay?”

Leonard snorted. “Trust you to worry about the gifts instead of your beat up body. Yeah, the gifts are okay. Nice people gathered them up and they beamed up with us.”

“Oh...that’s good. Bones, we’ll have to wrap ‘em up pretty for the Captain’s party.”

“Jim...darlin’.” Bones looked at him sadly. “It’s the 26th today, Boxing Day. Christmas came and went while you were healing. I’m so sorry.”

Jim’s shocked blue eyes met his. “I’ve been out all that time? Christmas is over?”

“You’ve been unconscious since the evening of the 23rd. We had to keep you sedated. Your injuries were extensive and it was easier and faster to keep you out while the regenerators did their work. As it was, your ankle had to be completely rebuilt. That escalator did a number on it, it was crushed...but,” he added hastily at Jim’s shocked face, “it’s good as new. Geoff and I did a damn fine job if I do say so myself.”

Jim nodded, biting his bottom lip hard, his blue eyes suddenly glassy. “Thanks, Bones,” he murmured huskily. “You always fix me up.”

“I’m sorry about Christmas, sweetheart. I know how much you were looking forward to it.”

“S’all right, Bones. Not your fault, not anyones’s fault really.” Jim blinked rapidly, trying to hide his bitter disappointment.

“Except that idiot on the escalator,” Leonard murmured angrily.

“When can I get outta here?” Jim hated his Med Bay stays and always wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Bones looked at the bio bed monitors. “In an hour or so you can go back to our quarters. You’re off duty tomorrow, light duty the next day, back to full duty the day after.

Jim nodded listlessly. “What time is it?”

“It’s 1700 hours, darlin’. We’ll get you home by supper time.”

Jim turned his head away not wanting Bones to see how heart sick and disappointed he felt.

“Rest now, Jimmy. I’ll go finish some charts and come get you when it’s time.”

When his shift was over, Leonard walked the listless, sad Jim slowly to their shared quarters. He kept close to Jim as they walked, their shoulders touching. At their door, he put in his code and they walked in.

The living area was dark, but Jim saw the golden lights from their little tree glowing softly in their small living room. Jim smiled wanly. “It’s nice you put up our little tree, Bones. It looks pretty.”

Something else caught his eye and he walked slowly toward their dining alcove. Their small round dining table was covered with a white linen tablecloth and was set with the ship’s fine china, silver, crystal wine glasses, and two ship safe candles. A food trolley with covered warming dishes stood by the table. Delicious smells wafted from the covered dishes.

“Bones...,” Jim breathed out. “Is this our Christmas dinner?”

“It _is_ our Christmas dinner.” Leonard raised an amused eyebrow at Jim’s shocked face. “You didn’t think I’d let Christmas go by without honoring our tradition did you, darlin’? I planned the surprise while you were sleepin’. Figured the exact day wasn’t nearly as important as you and me doing what we’ve always done, celebratin’ Christmas together with a great meal. Just the two of us like always.” He grinned. “We’ll open our gifts to each other after dinner, okay?”

“Bones, Bones,” Jim’s blue eyes were shining with joy and surprise. He turned and flung his arms around him, holding on tight. “Thank you,” he choked out, sniffing into Bones’ shoulder. “Thank you, Bones. This is perfect. You did all this for me?”

“Course I did,” Leonard answered gruffly. “I did it for you and for me...for us. I know how much you love our Christmas tradition, Jimmy, and so do I. Soooo, I was bound and determined we were still gonna’ enjoy it when you got outta’ the Med Bay. And guess what?” He pulled a chair out for Jim and pushed him gently to sit down, then pulled out the other chair and sat. He leaned in and gently nuzzled at Jim’s ear. “I have another surprise for you,” he whispered.

“Really, Bones? There’s another surprise?” Jim’s shining blue eyes opened even wider.

“Yep! There sure is. Tomorrow, after we comm all the home folks who are worried and are dying to talk to you, the Captain’s party is still on for tomorrow evening. The command crew all agreed to reschedule the party until you were out of the Med Bay and back on your feet. And while you were sleeping, I went ahead and wrapped everything. Ny’s already ordered all the snacks, drinks and munchies that you chose from the mess, so we’re all set for you playin’ Santa, giving the crew their gifts tomorrow evening. Good times, darlin’,” he dimpled at his Jim, “but mind you, the party can’t go on too late, ‘cause you’re still recuperating’. And you have to rest most of tomorrow, Jim, so you won’t be too tired to enjoy yourself at the Captain’s party.” He looked a stern warning at Jim. “Promise me.”

“I will, Bonsie,” Jim told him happily. “I promise. I’ll rest during the day.” 

“Good.” Leonard lifted the covers from the food warmers. “All your favorite Christmas foods that you ordered from Chef are here. Glazed ham, green bean casserole with those crunchy onions you like, whipped potatoes, corn pudding, rolls with butter, and tea. Sorry there’s no wine tonight with your meds darlin’, but for dessert apple pie a la mode and fresh brewed coffee.”

Jim sighed blissfully. Bones was the most awesome human being in the entire galaxy. He leaned in and gave his Bones a passionately tender kiss. “This is perfect, Bones. I’m so happy! You and me having our dinner together, celebrating Christmas like we’ve always done. Thank you for going to all this trouble and doing this for me...for us.” Jim pulled him in closer and gave him little loving pecks all over his face. “I love you, baby, love you so much. Merry Christmas, Bonesie.” 

“Love you more, darlin’. Merry Christmas, my Jim.” 


End file.
